The interview was released hours after Spiegel.de reported AMD was cutting their entire esport budget, and that Intel would follow suit in the very near future - something that Hilgers dimisses "From all our sponsors - and especially from our main sponsor Intel -we get the clear signal that gaming and eSports will remain an important marketing segment in 2009 and beyond."

He continued, "This commitment also reflects in the fact that all our partners from 2008 have continued their engagement in 2009. Especially Intel holds tight to its support for eSports and the support of the ESL - in Germany, Europe and world-wide."

Hilgers made no attempt to deny that the effects of the world's financial disaster have finally reverberated into the esport community "We are certain that at the moment we experience the most difficult stage of this economical crisis..." however, he envisions a rather optimistic outcome "We expect that the next quarter and especially the second half of 2009 will show already a clear recovery."

Hilgers also emphasised the importance of the audiences role in all of this "The development of eSports in 2009 largely depends on the active players and fans. eSports is attractive to sponsors, because there is an enthusiastic target audience that strongly identifies itself with and through its hobby."

"The support and enthusiasm of the community has always been the backbone of eSports but its importance even increases in times like these. As long as we all live this sport, as we love it, enjoy it, go to events and play active in leagues, our sport compared to other sports will go into 2010 even stronger."

You can read the interview in its entirety at Fragster.de.